​A CHRISTMAS CAROL: HOW CAN I HELP?

Introduction

After reading A Christmas Carol and reading those articles on helping others, what did you learn about volunteering and helping?I learned that when volunteering you should much rather focus on what they need the most. For example, if you’re planning to help the homeless, you should know what they really need, which is food and water. Also, I learned that when helping you have to be patient. When all three spirits visited Scrooge, they were all very patient with his behavior.

Who are you planning on helping?My group is planning to help the homeless

Why do you think helping this person is important?I think that helping the homeless is important because they don’t have basic necessities like food, water, shelter, etc. When helping the homeless, think of it as saving someone. If you don’t help the homeless now, there is going to be no future for them. So, I think it’s best to take action now. Also, even if they don’t have much they’re still very grateful when somebody donates.

​Research

Homelessness is a huge world wide issue. However, San Diego has an abundance of homeless people. In San Diego downtown, the number of unsheltered homeless was increased to 26%. We are trying to decrease this percentage by researching ways to help. We learned that besides basic needs; they also need emotional help, someone to talk to, and someone to keep them mentally strong. San Diego ranks 4th in the nation besides Los Angeles and New York for it’s overall homeless population.

The homeless in Glendale need a place to sleep because of weather conditions. There used to be a winter shelter but it got closed due to complaints. So, Ascencia, Glendale's largest homeless services agency, will oversee the shelter and offer help such as case management, counseling, psychiatric services and drug and alcohol recovery referrals and placement. Eventually, Ascencia hopes to provide permanent housing to those who use the shelter. (Mikailian, 2015) "The people who use this program are very vulnerable," she said. "They tend to be pretty sickly. It's even worse for them not to have an option … when they could be susceptible to the wet weather." (Komuro, 2015) People are planning to solve this problem by setting up a shelter for the homeless. The 80-bed facility, set up in a 44,000-square-foot warehouse at 1219 Los Angeles St., operates on a first-come, first-served basis. The program will run every night through March 31, offering free meals and a warm place to sleep. (Mikailian, 2015) It also said that Los Angeles and Glendale have contributed money to keep the program running for a longer period of time. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which funds contracts to operate winter shelters, has contributed $219,000 so far to run the Glendale site through next spring (Komuro, 2015) Glendale chipped in more than $40,000 to get the shelter running (Duran, 2015) "We need to take care of people that are less fortunate than us," "Especially during this time of year, there's a huge need. We don't want to just send them somewhere else." (Gharpetian, 2015)

Method

Our first idea is to volunteer to help feed the homeless. For example, on special holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, we could go and volunteer to help feed the homeless.

Our second idea is to have a food drive and have people donate food. Also, we could have people donate old clothing items that they no longer wear to give away to the homeless.

Our third idea is to contact a homeless shelter and see if they need anything. Also, we are going to see and ask if we can volunteer to help the homeless in any way possible.

Results

Unfortunately, my group is still thinking of a solid method on how to help the homeless, but we will be working over break and research other methods on how we can help.